Forever
by lilyofthedarkvalley
Summary: 'My Lord, when you brought me from Gondor to marry me you swore that you would love me and only me. Does that mean anything to you now'"Loth, it was nothing, I –"'Nothing, was it? Like our wedding vows? Or me' Rated T for implications.
1. Chapter 1

**Disclaimer: I unfortunately do not own Lord of the Rings. Sigh… **

Lothíriel walked out of the healer's workshop, smiling to herself. She resisted the urge to skip, as that would be _very_ unladylike. She smiled again and looked up at the sky. It was after midnight, and a chill breeze swept through Edoras. Lothíriel did not shiver however; she was glowing too much inside. Light danced in her eyes.

'I cannot wait to tell Éomer!' she whispered to herself.

Light blazed out of a tavern door as a drinking group spilled out of it. They were laughing raucously and their voices were slurred. They seemed to be extremely drunk. One of them began to boast loudly:

'Did you see the fair one at the back? Damn it, I did her good and hard!'

The group burst into hysterics before one of them managed to ask how much he had paid for the wench.

'Oh, enough. Most certainly enough!' The man replied.

This set the men off again and they collapsed against the wall, howling with merriment. Lothíriel wrinkled her nose in distaste at the Rohír's antics. The man who had been boasting turned his head towards her, and Lothíriel gasped. It was Éomer. Her husband. The group moved off again, in the direction of Meduseld. Lothíriel waited for a while, until the loud sounds of the drunken group had faded into nothing, before beginning to creep home. She caught a glimpse of the name of the tavern. _Gytha's Drink and Company_. A whorehouse.

XXXXXX

Éomer rolled over and blinked blearily, yawning. Suddenly his head exploded, and he moaned, covering his eyes. He had had far too much to drink last night. There was only one way to fix a hangover so he threw back the covers, and got out of bed slowly, trying not to inflame his headache. He shoved a pair of brown breeches on, and a white linen undershirt. Yanking on his boots he made his way down the stairs. Lothíriel must already be up. Éomer rubbed his face and yawned again. He smiled as he saw his wife sitting in a chair, staring out of the window. This smile rapidly faded as he looked at her face. Lothíriel was pale and her eyes were rimmed with red. There were dark, sagging circles under her eyes and her hair was a mess. Lothíriel looked around and instead of looking happy to see Éomer, she shot him a filthy glare, before resuming her watch out of the window.

'Loth?' he asked, tentatively.

'How was your night?' asked Lothíriel, her voice coated with innocence, but Éomer could hear the hardness underneath.

'It was fine, though I think I drank too much.' Éomer admitted, bewildered by Lothíriel's attitude.

'And how about the company? Did that meet your standards?' Lothíriel enquired, in that same polite, but cold tone.

'The compa- Ah.' said Éomer, as the memories of last night's events returned to him.

'I see you remember.' said Lothíriel, all traces of sweetness gone from her voice. 'My Lord, when you brought me from Gondor to marry me you swore that you would love me and only me. Does that mean anything to you now?'

'Loth, it was nothing, I –'

'Nothing, was it? Like our wedding vows? Or me?' interrupted Lothíriel, angrily. Éomer felt his own temper rise. All this shouting was most certainly not helping his headache.

'Stop being stupid. I told you it was nothing. She meant nothing to me.' stated Éomer.

'Ah, I see how it is going to be from now on.' said Lothíriel curtly. 'Good day.' She turned on her heel and stalked towards to the door.

'Lothíriel!' shouted Éomer after her. She ignored him and kept walking.

'_Loth__íriel!_'

Éomer ran after her and grabbed her arm, unnecessarily hard. She faced him; her eyes blazed with anger and barely concealed pain.

'As your King, I expect you to face me when I talk to you!' he yelled.

'As your wife, I expect you to have some sort of morals!' she screamed back.

'What? How dare you!' yelped Éomer.

'Is this not a good time?' asked a voice cautiously. The warring couple turned to face the intruder. It was Éothain. He looked nervous and was hiding something behind his back.

'I am so very sorry, gentlemen, but I do not feel so very well. If you would excuse me?' Lothíriel took her chance and escaped, slamming the door behind her.

There was a silence as Éothain and Éomer faced each other.

'What do you want, Éothain?' sighed Éomer.

'I came to give you this.' said Éothain quietly. He held out a small, but perfectly made toy horse.

'What is this for?' Éomer asked, bewildered.

'You mean you don't know?' replied Éothain, shocked. 'Ah. Then I don't think I should tell you. What I mean, is that I think Lothíriel should tell you herself.'

'No, no, you must tell me! Is there something wrong with Lothíriel?' asked Éomer urgently, his eyes searching Éothain's face.

'Éomer. Lothíriel's having a baby.

**TBC**

**N/A Thank you very much for reading! Please do leave a review, all is welcome! **


	2. Chapter 2

**Disclaimer: I do not own Lord of The Rings. **

Éomer sat on the steps of Edoras, his head in his hands.

_How could I have been so stupid? She's pregnant. Oh Eru. I'm going to be a _Father. _I should be leaping for joy, but all I think is how much a failure of a husband I am. How far along is she? Shouldn't I have noticed?_

Éomer rubbed his stubble, thinking hard. His green eyes suddenly widened and he froze. His whole body tensed and his hands gripped his breeches so hard his knuckles turned white.

_I don't know. I haven't noticed because I haven't been with her. I've been off wenching and riding and being holed up with advisors and…and…_

"Oh Eru. The war seems to have made off with all your integrity."

Éomer whirled around to stare at the intruder. Elanor, Eothain's wife stood behind him, one hand on her hip, her posture suggesting displeasure. But her voice was soft, and her eyes showed only sympathy.

Éomer turned back around.

"What is going on?" she asked, regarding his filthy state.

Her only reply was a deep, frustrated sigh.

"Lothíriel _loves_ you, Éomer. But you've been drifting away from her and she doesn't know what to do. It's been weeks since you've slept in the same bed…"

Éomer flinched at this, and Elanor's sharp eyes didn't fail to miss it.

"…Yes, you thought she wouldn't mind. First, you would sleep in the other chamber for a night, then two. When you moved all of your things next door she cried herself to sleep for two weeks. She doesn't understand what she has done _wrong_, Éomer. She only wants your love."

"I-I… It's none of your business!" growled Éomer angrily, wiping his eyes furiously. "You know nothing… you don't understand… Just take yourself away!"

Elanor crept away, satisfied that he would behave from now on.

XXXXXXXXXXXX

Éomer woke early. He had debated sleeping in the same room as his Queen, but some sixth sense warned him it could be dangerous. He resolved to take everything slowly with his wife, and he approached her carefully.

"My Lady, would you like to accompany me for a walk?" he asked politely, secretly expecting her to slap him round the face and walk off. Which he probably deserved, he thought bitterly, but a small wry thought made the point that his pride wouldn't take it that well.

She looked sadly at him.

"It's been a long time since you called me _My Lady_." She said in a small voice. "My name, to my husband I should hope, is Lothíriel."

Lothíriel rose regally from the table. Éomer cursed under his breath and followed her.

They made their way out of the hall, stepping into the cold sunshine. Éomer leapt out his skin when a small, white hand encircled his elbow. Lothíriel tried to hide it but Éomer didn't miss her face crumpling. Shame overtook him and he opened his mouth to apologise.

"Oh Loth, I-"

"Keep your mouth closed, please? It makes it easier." She interrupted, quelling him with a sharp look.

Éomer involuntarily growled at this. Lothíriel shot him a quick look of shock, followed by one of quiet amusement. Éomer, with obvious difficulty, wrestled with his pride and, finally, he grinned. His muscles felt stiff and he realised how serious he had been over the past few weeks.

"Can I speak?" he asked, wryly as they made their way, subconsciously, to the barrows behind Medusaled.

"That depends. Will you make a complete fool of yourself?" Lothíriel answered, muttering something under her breath.

"What was that?" Éomer asked, bewildered.

"I said, well, you must accept, you haven't really…eh…loved me in the past month."

There was a slithering noise out of the long grass to the couple followed by a twang. Éomer reacted out of dangerous habit and threw his wife to the ground and covering her with his body, narrowly missing the bear trap that sprung out of the bushes. The net collapsed harmlessly over their heads. The only sound for a few minutes was their heavy breathing.

"Lothíriel? Are you alright?" Éomer asked tentatively, suddenly realising the close proximity of their bodies. _I hope she doesn't mind…_

"Can we find somewhere safer?" she asked quietly.

She made to get up and with true Rohír stupidity, Éomer turned to his wife and swept her up into his arms.

"Éomer! Put me _down_! _Put me down!"_ Lothíriel screeched and began to pound him with her fists.

Éomer panicked, wondering if he was making things worse. But a small, reassuring though crept into his head:

_I think, in this situation, I would get too frustrated with taking my _marriage_ slowly and only make more problems for myself. Anyway, I'm enjoying having her here far too much. _

So Éomer just winked and held her closer. After a while her shouts subsided and he looked down to see her staring up at him, and mixture of fear, love and anger on her face.

"You are a complete Orc, you know that?" she hissed at him. He just smiled at her and gently laid her on the grass, plucking a crocus from the plant behind him and tucking it behind her ear. She looked up at him, a tiny flicker of hope in her eyes.

Channelling his reckless ancestors, Éomer crushed his lips to hers, one hand on her belly, and smiled.

**TBC**

**I apologise profusely for not updating, but here it is. Thanks to all who reviewed- it truly is the best thing ever. I will try to update more often!**


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